Hunting the General

The rising sun shone its rays of light onto Arya's face through what served as a window in his new dwelling. Without any delay, his eyes flashed open and he bolted up looking around. Nothing was amiss and he relaxed. Hopping down the bed, Arya stretched his back before making his way to the connected latrine to complete his business.

Outside the hut, a refreshed Arya looked at the lively village bustling with its splendor as the small red children with tiny horns ran around playing with each other. The women sat and cooked in an outdoor kitchen as the hunters trained with their 'magic'.

They conjured various weapons and tools then changed their forms swiftly at a matching pace. The hunters consisted of both men and women. They were all fairly young and full of spirit. They wore a uniform of plain leather armor. Their systematic movements seemed well practiced and disciplined.

As Arya watched them, someone tapped him from behind and he immediately instinctively slashed behind him with his vambrace that had turned into a sword. His powerful blow was caught by the assailants hands and his momentum stopped as if it had collided with a mountain.

This was enough time for him to look behind and identify the assailant. It was one of the hunter leaders who had escorted the chief out last night. Currently he had an exaggeratedly pained face with mischievous eyes.He let go of the blade as it shifted forms back into Arya's vambrace.

"Ouch, that hurt so much!" the mischief in his eyes becoming even clearer along with his bad acting.

"Ahh! my hand is broken. Do you attack everyone who approaches you?" the abyssal melodramatically held his hand to his chest and exclaimed. It was clear that he was completely unharmed.

Arya asked with a dark face, "Do you sneak up on everyone?"

"Yes, yes I do!" the man said excitedly.

Arya's dark expression faded away as he examined the hunting leader closely. 'He is very strong. He could sneak up on me and even grab the blade of my sword. That means he could have easily killed me.'

The abyssal smirked playfully, "Join my team for today's hunt. The chief told us to check out your skills. You claimed that you could hunt."

Arya remembered last night that he had said that he would hunt for them. Nodding slowly he gestured to the abyssal to lead the way.

He led Arya to the training hunters.

"Oh yes! Almost forgot! I'm Rook. What's your name?" Rook asked without turning to look behind him.

"Arya"

***

The duo reached the hunters and Rook called out,

"Team 2, Assemble!."

Immediately a group of 12 detached from the main cluster and stood at attention in front of their leader. The group comprised of 5 males and 7 females, all of them rather young and toned bodied. They stood with grace as they waited for their instructors words.

Rook shouted at them asking, "Are you ready for today's hunt?"

"Yes, we are!" the hunters replied enthusiastically as anticipation filled their eyes along with the respect they had for Rook.

"Today, we'll be observing the newbie. He's just a human so don't be too hard on him you hear?"

"Yes, Sir!"

Arya's face regained the dark expression from a while ago. He knew that he wasn't their match and that they had to have figured it out. That was the reason for Rook sneaking up on him and grabbing the blade barehanded. He knew they were tests. This was too. The fact that Rook was demeaning his existence as a human should be to provoke him to attack. If he did, they would be in their rights to attack and dispose of him. It would also confirm their speculation on his strength.

He knew...yes he knew. But, that didn't make things any easier to bear. But, he didn't act out. Instead, he nodded and gave a slight smile.

But everyone could see through his fake expression so his action was futile. He gave up and turned his expression back to his neutral one.

Rook clapped his hands and shouted, "Come on kids, lets move out!" and the members of team 2 cheered as the other hunters still in training paused their training to look on enviously.

Rook marched out of the training field towards the village exit. Behind him followed the 12 hunters in a straight line after which followed Arya.

The train departed the village and entered into the forest in a straight line. The behavior of the hunters seemed like a farce to him but Arya followed suit. They were the more experienced party. So following their example should not be wrong.

***

In the depths of the Ajeel forest a group of hunters stalked their prey. This large Bhisham was a higher tiered beast which acted as a general of the intelligent beast guarding this stretch of the forest.

The Bhisham was a four legged beast covered in fur resembling a prehistoric Earth mammoth. But one must not underestimate the defensive prowess of this thick and soft brown fur. Nor is it merely defensive. The fur of the Bhisham is pierce proof as well as resistant to the elements. This is in its natural state. When the Bhisham is in its battle state, the fur's ability is activated and it deflects all force below a certain limit along with reflecting the elements. The fur bristles can hardened and launch itself into its enemies in an area of effect attack. The attacks of this 3 meter tall beast is not limited to the passive attacks of its fur. Its ferocious nature drives it to go on the offensive and use its massive weight and speed to ram into and crush enemies. It's powerful eyesight is accompanied by an even stronger sense of smell and hearing. Its powerful trunk which is half its length covered in spikes is used as a whip and also a flexible limb for holding things, lifting them and smashing them on their opponents. The diet of the Bhisham consists of the Drik tree's entire body and any prey it can find. Despite well developed intelligence, the Bhisham lacks the vocal organ structure to produce any language used by the other intelligent beings.

As Arya lay his eyes on the prey to be, his mind was flooded by the basic information on this mighty looking beast. A pity that the information did not mention any weaknesses. He just realised that the abyssal trees that filled the forest were called Drik trees. He hadn't gotten information about them before but now checked to see that its was indeed in his mind. He would read it later. But for now, Arya believed that they should not even think of attempting to harm this abyssal beast because their strength was leagues below it. His strongest attack wouldn't even pierce its hide when it was out of combat. He was sure that despite Rook and his team being stronger than him, they weren't so strong so as to be able to hunt it. He was certain that Rook would tell them to turn around or by-pass the beast any moment.

But...that moment did not come. Rook instead used some hand signals to order his team to encircle it. They spread out as ordered keeping low and careful not to make any sound. Maybe they would sneak attack it. There was a small chance for them to hit a vital organ and kill it. Though not likely, it was possible. But, the next moment Arya realized that they were all doomed.

Rook made a signal and charged to the beast yelling as he manifested a re flaming spear. The others followed as well. IT seemed everyone was used to this madness. This enemy was not a weakling but instead a general of the beast guardian. They would never survive if they charged in recklessly like that!...or so Arya thought...

The teamwork of the hunters was top notch. They perfectly combined their skills and attacked the burly monstrosity. Their ferocious and abrupt attack left the beast no chance to be surprised or prepare. The first attack of the which somehow turned into a combined attack merged into Rooks attack as the flame spear turned into a golden lance and pierced the side of the Bhisham.

The beast was not prepared for the pain that followed and thrashed about before charging at the various hunters in a vain attempted as they nimbly dodged the charging beast.

Clinging to its charging body was Rook who still grabbed onto the flame spear that remained embedded in in its body. The beast's battle mode activated and its brown started shining with a dull glow. But it seemed that its deflecting ability would not work on anything that had already pierced its defenses. Rook jumped on top of the frenzied beast pivoting over his spear. He relaxedly pushed the spear deeper and deeper into the Bhisham's body. But after a while, he couldn't push any further and clicked his tongue. It seemed that the spear had struck bone any couldn't go any deeper. Unwilling to give up his advantage, Rook kept trying to push the spear and break through the bone. All the while, the hunters dodged the charging Bhisham and attracted its attention by aiming elemental projectiles at its eyes and ears. These attacks were deflected all the same but they caused a great amount of irritation to the beast provoking its rage even further.

Arya watched this entire battle play out with his mouth agape. The abyssal beast that was described as very dangerous was being toyed around by this group of hunters. As Arya enjoyed the show, the Bhisham noticed his presence and assumed that he was the mastermind watching from the shadows. It charged towards him with greater ferocity than it had shown all this while. No amount of provocation from the hunters seemed to work anymore.

Seeing the Bhisham aiming for him, Arya turned and began sprinting in the opposite direction like his life depended on it...which it did. The Bhisham gave chase and barreled through the trees and rocks, obliterating all in its path. This sudden change threw Rook off the beast's back. Without Rook's energy feeding it, the spear dissipated.

The hunters and the fallen Rook were left behind watching as Arya and the Bhisham escaped their sights.

"Well that didn't go as planned.", Rook had a tiny frown on his face that twitched slightly as his eyes held an excited light.

"But, this is better than the plan."

***

Arya continued his escape and thought about how the number of times he was fleeing for his life kept increasing day by day. He turned to look and saw the distance between him and the beast continued to increase. The only reason it hadn't caught him yet was because it had to trample through the many obstacles in its path which caused minor hindrances as Arya simply leaped over rocks and sprinted between trees.

His earlier escapade was great experience for the present as he utilized his senses to the best of his ability to avoid any obstacles. Any beast in his path ran side for its life as soon as they sensed the aura of the Bhisham on his tail. So, Arya's path was a lot more clear than it would have been otherwise.

Arya aimed at a branch of a Drik tree in the distance with his vambrace and a hook shot out and grabbed hold. The hook then pulled him to it like a grappling hook.Before he reached his targeted branch, he aimed and shot at another one. In this way, Arya increased his speed and saved his energy at the same time.

After a while of this form of travel, Arya noticed boulders a boulder crash into a tree he was zipping to. He dropped down mid zip and continued running. He glanced back and was horrified to see even more rocks flying his way along with tree trunks and even some unlucky small animals. The rampaging and quite persistent beast was grabbing anything it found close and flinging them towards him.

Arya understood that the abyssal beast would not give up on him and would continue to pursue him till it either killed him or it died. He also understood that, the Bhisham would not die on its own. rather, he would have to kill it. At the same time, he was screaming in his mind about the whereabouts of the hunters, He glanced at his minimap to see not a single life signature besides the huge one behind him. The many smaller animals that the beast was using as ammunition did not register as they were significantly weaker than him and could not escape in time.

Arya kept trying to shoot his grappling hooks at the trees and was disrupted every time until he succeeded once. This time, he zipped towards the tree but instead of releasing the hook, he used it as a swing to catapult higher into the air before dashing down on the back of the Bhisham.

One thing he now discovered was that, despite the sensory advantage the Bhisham had in the visual, auditory and olfactory department and for all its intelligence, abilities and strength, the beast lacked the sense of touch! As soon as Arya had jumped up high, the beast had lost sight of him for a moment. It stopped and glanced around while sniffing with its trunk while keeping its ears primed. It head unable to look up at 90 degrees, it couldn't pinpoint Arya's position anymore.

When he landed, it immediately knew that he had indeed come down and focused around itself to find nothing. Yet, it did not feel the new presence on its back or the accompanying pressure.

But, its intelligence was not for naught as it immediately realized where its foe must be and swung its trunk to its back. But, it was already too late.

Arya turned his vambrace into a pair of metallic claws and dug into the already healing wound caused by Rook's spear. Despite it starting its healing process, it was slow as the beast hadn't had a chance to rest and truly heal itself. This showed just how high the regeneration rate of the Bhisham was.

The claws dug into the injury and reopened its old wound. This caused the beast massive amounts of pain and it wriggled about trying to get rid of this pest. Arya did not stop at just digging into the wound. Instead, as he dug deeper and deeper, the claws stretched wider and wider. This would not be possible with his strength. But he wasn't using his strength. Inside the beast's wound, where the two claws were currently located, between them, a metallic pole expanded slowly and pushed them further apart.

Yes, Arya had made a piston. He used the piston to push the two claws apart after digging them deep inside the beast. This allowed him to tear open the wound and make it even deeper causing blood to squirt out. Then when he thought that the wound was sufficiently wide, the pole that acted as a piston produced a sharp barbed nail like pin from its center. It elongated till it reached the bone Rook couldn't pierce and began spinning at high speed. The drilling caused the beast even more pain as it collapsed on its sides gasping for breath.

The drill pierced through the bone and continued its journey as it drilled through all in its path. None of the important organs were spared nor the bones and muscles. The now very long nail had pierced through every obstacles where bones would take some time and organs and muscle tissue were torn through like butter. But, it did drill through everything as it reached its final destination- its large and powerfully pumping heart.

***\\\ Author's note: I might not be able to upload a chap tomorrow. There are two reasons for that. One, my PC's hdd died. A moment of silence for my loss....Okay moment over. Now Two, I'm going to visit my relatives for Eid. I will be on the bus tomorrow for upto 6 hours? This will cut away any time I have to write. I should be able to grab my cousin's PC and write from the day after though. But, if that's not possible for some reason, the novel will be on a break till the day after I get back home and buy a new hdd which should be on the 7th? or maybe 8th? of next month. So see you till then. I will try to write before then though if i can get my hands on a computer.

Thank you to anyone who read my novel and who I beg for to spare some stones. I'm participating in the 70th writing prompt after all. Also, I appreciate any input anyone provides. If there is something I messed up or if you want to suggest something for me to add to the novel, don't hesitate to comment...Don't hesitate to comment even if you have nothing to say...I need motivation and feel as if there is no one who appreciates my work.

So, Goodbye thank you and if I don't write before then, a happy Eid-ul-Fitr to you all.///***